Reference Guide for Student Authors in Political Science

In politics, the footnotes and endnotes can be more important than the text.  The text tells me what you think is true, but the notes allow me to check your conclusions against the original data.  Therefore, it is critical that provide enough information for your reader to return to your sources.

 Political scientists use several types of style guides for references.  The most common is the American Political Science Association author-date system (otherwise known as APSA style), a modification of the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS).  In APSA style, a note is placed in parentheses in the text, near where the source is used, with just enough information to allow the reader to find the full citation in the bibliography. 

•        The diplomatic note was, in the words of one observer, “nothing more than an ultimatum” (Wilson 1999, 14).

 If the name of the author is provided in the text, it is not necessary to put it in the parentheses.

•        Wilson (1999, 14) called the note “nothing more than an ultimatum.”

 The bibliography provides the author’s name (last name first), then the date of publication, followed by the title, place of publication, and name of the publisher.  Articles in journals should include the page numbers and, if a scholarly or technical journal, the volume number.

 •        Flintstone, Wilma 1982.  “Eating Habits of the Neanderthal Male.”  Journal of Cro-Magnon Cooking 3:249-314.

•        New York Times. 1998. Editorial, 14 November.

•        Parker, Peter 1997.  “Transnational Crime is Growing.” Daily Bugle, 18 December.

•        Wilson, David 1999.  Mythmaking and Kosovo.  Boston: Boston University Press.

 Another traditional method is the documentary-note system, which uses raised numbers in the text which refer to notes at the bottom of the page or to endnotes.

 •        Wilson called the note “nothing more than an ultimaturm.”¹⁴

 In this case, the notes are numbered sequentially, and the bibliography is listed in alphabetical order at the end of the paper.

 There is also a student-citation system, which places notes at the end of the sentence in which the reference is made.  The general pattern is to end the sentence with a forward slash (/), a source number, and pages.

 •        Neanderthal males were especially fond of bronto-burgers/1.251-252.

 Whatever system you use, when dealing with internet documents the same principles apply.  You must provide enough information for the reader to find the source.  If possible, include the date and version of the information posted.  The last two items in an internet citation are the site where the information was found and the date when you accessed it. 

•        Graves, Howard.  “The Growing Problem of Citing the Web.”  Ver. 2.0.  18 April 1999. <http:wwwgraves.com/libweb/citation/polemic.htm> (10 January 2000).

If you are writing for publication, always check the style requirements of the journal or publisher.  When dealing with a class, try to stick to one of the preferred systems (and check the professor’s preferences--I prefer the APSA style ).  There are few things more frustrating than having to revise a text to fix the notes.  It is easier to get it right the first time.